Restive sounds intruded on an otherwise subdued and routine meeting Friday of the University of Vermont Board of Trustees.

The sounds, occasionally clamorous, came from about 70 protesters who chanted outside the ballrooms where meetings were taking place, and at noontime, outside a smaller function room where UVM leaders were apparently having lunch.

More measured sounds came from the president of the UVM staff council, Renee Berteau, who told the board that the staff compensation package for the current year — including a 2 percent raise and a 20 percent hike in the employee's share of health-insurance costs — "troubles the staff greatly." She said that the net result for many is barely keeping up with inflation, and that "the need to recruit and retain outstanding staff is unsustainable unless something changes."

Berteau's statement — one of five brief reports the trustees hear at each plenary meeting from campus and alumni organizations — echoed concerns that have been voiced by others at a time of labor unrest:

The Vermont State Employees Association has filed for an election to represent about 800 UVM staffers, and another organizing drive is underway among employees of Sodexo, UVM's food-service contractor.

The full-time unit of the faculty union, United Academics, is at impasse with the administration in negotiations for a contract to replace an expired three-year agreement, and has launched a public campaign under the title "Stop Corporate U." Faculty members, some of them in gowns and mortar boards, were among the demonstrators, as were staff-union organizers and students promoting fossil-fuel divestment, a proposal that trustees rejected last year.

The demonstrators gathered at mid-morning on the steps of the Bailey/Howe Library, then marched to the fourth floor of the Davis Center, where trustee committees were meeting. Chanting and singing, they paraded back and forth in the fourth-floor lounge without entering, or disrupting, either meeting. When trustees and others emerged shortly before noon, they were offered various pieces of literature, including a United Academics brochure that said in part: "The administration seems determined to impose another concessionary contract on the people who do the work of teaching and research."

The UVM administration issued a statement Friday that said, in part, that "it wishes and fully expects to have reasonble and fair salary increases for all employees at the university during this new budget year."

UVM began the current fiscal year in negotiation with United Academics and two other unions. All had contracts that expired June 30. In August, the administration reached a settlement with a union representing Police Services employees, a two-year agreement providing for a 2 percent raise this year. Last week, the administration announced that a settlement had been reached with the service workers' union; a ratification vote has been scheduled for Wednesday.

Major decisions on budget and tuition are typically made in the spring. Before the demonstrators arrived, the trustees' budget committee heard a proposal for summer session fees. The proposal would raise the cost per credit hour about 3.5 percent — to $414 for Vermont residents and to $1,046 for out-of-staters.

The education committee heard a proposal for an expansion of Kalkin Hall, home of the School of Business Administration. The recommendation is to build a three-story addition in what is now the building's plaza, at a projected cost of $10 million to be privately financed. Fundraising efforts are underway, according to Dean Sanjay Sharma.

A statistical report on staff trends and comparisons, presented by John Ryan, director of institutional research, indicated that UVM has fewer full-time-equivalent managers per 1,000 students (8.3) than the median for U.S. research universities (17.6). The report, based on federal education statistics, concluded that UVM's student-faculty ratio of 16 to 1 is below the public research university median of 18 to 1.

The full board also heard a summary of fall enrollment statistics. Of the first-time, first-year class, 23.6 percent are Vermonters, down from 24.2 percent last year. Of all undergraduates, 31.4 percent are Vermonters, compared to 31.9 percent last year.

President Tom Sullivan told the board that 46 percent of Vermont undergraduates attend tuition-free. He did not mention that those students include children of UVM employees, who attend tuition-free under a longstanding university benefit for its workforce. Excluding UVM dependents who attend under the tuition-remission policy, according to UVM, 34 percent of Vermont students attend UVM tuition-free.